Mike Trout Robbed: Angels Fans Upset That Sensational Rookie Isn’t MVP

Mike Trout was robbed of winning the American League’s Most Valuable Player award, Los Angeles Angels fans and some sportswriters contended after the sensational rookie lost out to Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers.

Cabrera beat out Trout in voting for the MVP award in voting by the 28 members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, MLB announced Thursday night. Using a weighted voting system, Cabrera took 22 of 28 first-place votes to beat out Mike Trout 362-281 in weighted scoring.

As George Sippie of the Detroit Free Press points out, despite Cabrera’s incredible season, there is still a sentiment that Mike Trout was robbed. Sippie acknowledges the debate but says that Cabrera was more than deserving:

“Even though Cabrera won, the Cabrera-Trout debate likely will rage on for years.

“After all, many in Detroit still believe Alan Trammell was robbed of the 1987 award by George Bell of the Blue Jays.

“The debate between Cabrera and Trout took on a life of its own.

“Cabrera became the first player to win the Triple Crown in 45 years, leading the league in home runs (44), RBIs (139) and batting average (.330), among other categories. He also performed better than Trout over the final months of the season and late in games.

“Unlike Trout, Cabrera helped his team reach the playoffs (and ultimately the World Series, although votes were cast before the postseason).”

Riley Schmitt, a blogger for Rant Sports, made the argument that Mike Trout was robbed based on his stellar sabermetrics. Trout’s wins above replacement, a statistic used to show how many more wins a player would give a team as opposed to a “replacement level,” was 10, one of the best seasons ever.

Though many believe Mike Trout was robbed of the MVP, he was already the runaway winner for American League Rookie of the Year.